diff --git a/src/libespeak-ng/encoding.c b/src/libespeak-ng/encoding.c
index 785e8483..b6bc2db2 100644
--- a/src/libespeak-ng/encoding.c
+++ b/src/libespeak-ng/encoding.c
@@ -731,6 +731,29 @@ text_decoder_decode_wstring(espeak_ng_TEXT_DECODER *decoder,
 	return ENS_OK;
 }
 
+espeak_ng_STATUS
+text_decoder_decode_string_multibyte(espeak_ng_TEXT_DECODER *decoder,
+                                     const void *input,
+                                     espeak_ng_ENCODING encoding,
+                                     int flags)
+{
+	switch (flags & 7)
+	{
+	case espeakCHARS_WCHAR:
+		return text_decoder_decode_wstring(decoder, (const wchar_t *)input, -1);
+	case espeakCHARS_AUTO:
+		return text_decoder_decode_string_auto(decoder, (const char *)input, -1, encoding);
+	case espeakCHARS_UTF8:
+		return text_decoder_decode_string(decoder, (const char *)input, -1, ESPEAKNG_ENCODING_UTF_8);
+	case espeakCHARS_8BIT:
+		return text_decoder_decode_string(decoder, (const char *)input, -1, encoding);
+	case espeakCHARS_16BIT:
+		return text_decoder_decode_string(decoder, (const char *)input, -1, ESPEAKNG_ENCODING_ISO_10646_UCS_2);
+	default:
+		return ENS_UNKNOWN_TEXT_ENCODING;
+	}
+}
+
 int
 text_decoder_eof(espeak_ng_TEXT_DECODER *decoder)
 {
diff --git a/src/libespeak-ng/encoding.h b/src/libespeak-ng/encoding.h
index 00ce022b..01a2fdcd 100644
--- a/src/libespeak-ng/encoding.h
+++ b/src/libespeak-ng/encoding.h
@@ -47,6 +47,12 @@ text_decoder_decode_wstring(espeak_ng_TEXT_DECODER *decoder,
                             const wchar_t *string,
                             int length);
 
+espeak_ng_STATUS
+text_decoder_decode_string_multibyte(espeak_ng_TEXT_DECODER *decoder,
+                                     const void *input,
+                                     espeak_ng_ENCODING encoding,
+                                     int flags);
+
 int
 text_decoder_eof(espeak_ng_TEXT_DECODER *decoder);
 
diff --git a/src/libespeak-ng/translate.c b/src/libespeak-ng/translate.c
index 009dabae..03e6dda1 100644
--- a/src/libespeak-ng/translate.c
+++ b/src/libespeak-ng/translate.c
@@ -1970,26 +1970,8 @@ const void *TranslateClause(Translator *tr, const void *vp_input, int *tone_out,
 	if (p_decoder == NULL)
 		p_decoder = create_text_decoder();
 
-	switch (option_multibyte)
-	{
-	case espeakCHARS_WCHAR:
-		text_decoder_decode_wstring(p_decoder, (const wchar_t *)vp_input, -1);
-		break;
-	case espeakCHARS_AUTO:
-		text_decoder_decode_string_auto(p_decoder, (const char *)vp_input, -1, tr->encoding);
-		break;
-	case espeakCHARS_UTF8:
-		text_decoder_decode_string(p_decoder, (const char *)vp_input, -1, ESPEAKNG_ENCODING_UTF_8);
-		break;
-	case espeakCHARS_8BIT:
-		text_decoder_decode_string(p_decoder, (const char *)vp_input, -1, tr->encoding);
-		break;
-	case espeakCHARS_16BIT:
-		text_decoder_decode_string(p_decoder, (const char *)vp_input, -1, ESPEAKNG_ENCODING_ISO_10646_UCS_2);
-		break;
-	default:
-		return NULL; // unknown multibyte option value
-	}
+	if (text_decoder_decode_string_multibyte(p_decoder, vp_input, tr->encoding, option_multibyte) != ENS_OK)
+		return NULL;
 
 	embedded_ix = 0;
 	embedded_read = 0;